Sounds of Innate Freedom

The Indian Texts of Mahamudra, Volume 2

Karl Brunnhölzl

• Publisher: Wisdom Publications
• Year: 2024
• eBook ISBN:
  9781614297147
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Eastern Philosophy

The second volume in a historic six-volume series containing many of the first English translations of the classic Mahamudra literature compiled by the Seventh Karmapa.

Sounds of Innate Freedom: The Indian Texts of Mahamudra are historic volumes containing many of the first English translations of the classic Mahamudra literature. The texts and songs in these volumes constitute the large compendium called The Indian Texts of the Mahamudra of Definitive Meaning, compiled by the Seventh Karmapa Chötra Gyatso (1456–1539). Translated, introduced, and annotated by Karl Brunnhölzl, acclaimed senior teacher at the Nalandabodhi community of Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, the collection offers a brilliant window into the richness of the vast ocean of Indian Mahamudra texts cherished in all Tibetan lineages, particularly in the Kagyü tradition, giving us a clear view of the sources of one of the world’s great contemplative traditions.

This volume 2 (thirty-four texts) contains two long-established sets of Mahamudra works: “The Sixfold Pith Cycle” and short texts of Maitripa’s “Twenty-Five Dharmas of Mental Nonengagement,” which present a blend of Madhyamaka, Mahamudra, and certain tantric principles, as well as two commentaries by Maitripa’s students. The vital focus of this volume is the accomplishment of true reality.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Contents
• Foreword by Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche
• Preface
• Abbreviations
• Introduction
• (12). The Accomplishment of Glorious True Reality
• (13). A Dohā Treasure Song
• (14). The Succession of the Four Mudrās
• (15). A Discussion of the Purification of the Mind
• (16). An Illumination of Prajñā Wisdom
• (17). A Synopsis of Positions
• (18). Pith Instructions on the Tradition of Inconceivable Nonduality
• (19). Eradicating Bad Views
• (20). A Commentary on the [Initial] Passage of “Eradicating Bad Views”
• (21). An Illumination of Unity
• (22). Pith Instructions on True Reality Called “A Dohā Treasure”
• (23). Five Stanzas on the Love between Means and Prajñā
• (24). An Illumination of Utter Nonabiding
• (25). Six Stanzas on the Connate
• (26). Six Stanzas on the Middle
• (27). In Support of Mental Nonengagement
• (28). Five Stanzas on Penetrating Insight
• (29). Five Stanzas on Love
• (30). A Discourse on Illusion
• (31). A Discourse on Dream
• (32). Ten Stanzas on True Reality
• (33). The Illumination of Great Bliss
• (34). A Jewel Garland of True Reality
• (35). An Illumination of True Reality
• (36). A Commentary on the Five Seals of the Tathāgatas
• (37). A Compendium of the Purport of Empowerment
• (38). A Compendium of the Procedures of Empowerment
• (39). The Five Aspects (of Vajrasattva)
• (40). Twenty Stanzas on the Mahāyāna
• (41). Twenty Stanzas on True Reality
• (42). Instructions on Empowerment
• (43). A Pith Instruction on Letting Cognizance Be without Projecting and Withdrawing, “The True Secret”
• (44). A Commentary on the Four Mudrās, Called “Jewel Heart”
• (45). A Critical Commentary on “Instructions on Empowerment”
• Appendix 1: A Compendium of Beginner Activity
• Appendix 2: Taking the Pith Instructions of the Philosophical Systems as the Path
• Appendix 3: Tipi Bumlabar’s Outline of Divākaracandra’s An Illumination of Prajñā Wisdom
• Appendix 4: Tipi Bumlabar’s Outline of Sahajavajra’s A Synopsis of Positions
• Appendix 5: Outline of A Commentary on the Four Mudrās
• Appendix 6: Tipi Bumlabar’s Outline of Rāmapāla’s A Critical Commentary on “Instructions on Empowerment”
• Appendix 7: The Fivefold Classification of the Creation and Completion Processes in the Texts of Maitrīpa and His Students
• Notes
• Bibliography
• About the Translator
• Copyright